1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for production of activated carbon fibers from an acrylonitrile based fiber by application of oxidation and activation processings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Activated carbon is very useful as an adsorbent. Recently, the demand for activated carbon has been increasing particularly in the field of prevention of environmental pollution.
Hitherto, activated carbon has been produced from charcoal, animal charcoal, etc., and it is now possible to produce activated carbon from synthetic resins such as polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, and the like. In addition, a method of producing activated carbon fibers by subjecting the fiber of a phenol resin to carbonization and activation processings is known and described in Applied Polymer Symposia, No. 21, page 143 (1973), for example.
While the use of activated carbon as a fiber has the advantage in that it can be used more functionally than the conventional powdery or granular activated carbon, the above-described method has not been put into practice since the starting materials are quite expensive.